The Replacements

The Nevermind for those who'd already lost faith in rock'n'roll heroes, even the music industry thought this far-reaching album would turn the 'Mats into the next big thing. Crossover success didn't happen, but such tracks as "Alex Chilton," "Never Mind," "Skyway," and "Can't Hardly Wait" ensure this disc will be cherished by each new generation of wounded romantics.

When God was giving out self-confidence, where the hell was Paul Westerberg? Out buying
beer? For someone so blessed with songwriting ability, the singer-guitarist seems unduly
consumed with doubt about his own worth and that of the Replacements, his merry band
of Minneapolis rock & roll idiot savants. "One more chance to get it all wrong ... one more
chance to get it half-right," he bawled desperately in the semiautobiographical b... More >

It's no different for Paul Westerberg than for less talented mortals--sooner or later he had to grow up or fall apart. That's why he got rid of Bob Stinson, who threatened to destroy the band along with himself and anybody else within range. But that doesn't mean Westerberg's guitar can extend Stinson's perpetually broken promise to harness the power of naked anarchy. Or that he can altogether avoid the sentimentality inherent in subjects like teen suicide and red red wine. Of course, with almost any other band those two songs would be airplay cuts, but compared to "I.O.U.," "Alex Chilton," "I Don't Know," "Valentine," they're product and filler. For the third straight album Westerberg delivers the goods--grimy, uplifting, in the tradition and shocking like new. No competing rock and roll mortal can make such a claim. If by some stroke he learns to handle maturity, Valhalla awaits him. (Grade - A-)